Unknown
Ancient Gandhara, present-day Pakistan
Head of a Bodhisatva, probably Maitreya the Future Buddha, 2nd c. CE, late
grey schist
12 x 6 3/4 x 5 1/8 in.
SBMA, Gift of Wright S. Ludington
1967.28
RESEARCH PAPER
This head, in SBMA’s permanent collection is a work of Mahayana Buddhism whose tenets were much more accessible to worshipers than earlier forms. It originated in Gandhara, an area located on and around the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. This area was conquered by Alexander the Great in 327-326 BCE and remained under Greek rule for about twenty years. A Bodhisattva is a term, which means in Sanskrit, “one who is destined for or whose essence is enlightenment” originally referred to the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, before he became the enlightened one.
Siddhartha Gautama, also known as Sakyamuni meaning “sage of the sakya tribe”, was born around 566 BCE in Kapilavastu, near the present Indian-Nepal border to a royal family of the Sakya Tribe. He gave up his family, his wealth and his princely state for a life as a religious mendicant in a quest to find the meaning of life and an end to suffering. After many trials, he found his answer through a revelatory experience (enlightenment or Nirvana) while sitting under a bodhi tree. From this experience he created a new discipline, a system of laws called the dharma doctrine, which he taught to his followers before he died at 80. His thought was carried on through oral tradition and later written down.
The Buddhist philosophy differs from Christianity and Islam in that it does not offer an all-powerful God figure as saver of souls. Instead it provides “the way”, a set of principles and rules for daily living. Following these precepts is not easy but everyone has the potentiality to become a Buddha. In Buddhist thought, those who delay the reward of nirvana and remain in the world to teach and help mankind are Bodhisattvas.
No anthropomorphic image of the Buddha appeared prior to the 1st century CE. His presence and the events of his life were indicated by symbols: the bodhi tree, footprints, the wheel of learning, the parasol, and the lotus blossom. These symbols, by stimulating spiritual and mental attitudes, supported memory and visualization in meditation, the backbone of Buddhist practice.
Initially, images of Buddha as a man appeared on coins in the 1st century CE to compete with the many images of Hindu deities and to further identify Buddhist practice for the faithful. Buddhist sculpture originated at two important art centers in India, Gandhara and Mathura. The religious art they produced was commissioned by Buddhist rulers or members of the ruling class to be used in stupas (funeral mounds to hold the relics of Buddha), monasteries and for religious propaganda.
Of the two schools, Gandhara was the most occidental because of the diversity of its population. Foreign invasions by Greeks, Persians and the Chinese left their imprint on the native Afghani-Indian culture. Alexander the Great first conquered this area. Trade along the Silk Road to China furnished new ideas and iconography from the western Mediterranean. This resulted in a more westernized depiction of these religious figures, in standing postures, with more humanized demeanors, in contrast to the Mathuran. For several hundred years the Gandharan approach prevailed but eventually the more Indian approach that conceived the Buddha figure as stripped of individuality, steeped in transcendental aloofness and generally sitting in the lotus position, triumphed.
The SBMA Head of Bodhisattva is an excellent example of the Occidental and Oriental features of the Greek/Roman/Indian style created by the Gandharan school. The Hellenistic Greek/Roman or Apollo-like characteristics are apparent in the arched eyebrows, sharp outlines around the almond-shaped eyes, the modeling of the cheeks, and finally the curls and linear patterning of the hair. The hair forms a topknot also echoing that of the Greek Sun God. The Oriental influence appears in the meditative gaze, the Afghani/Indian mustache and the beaded crown on the head.
The SBMA head would have been part of a standing figure with hands posed in a “mudra”. The cranial protuberance or “Ushnisha” signifying wisdom is hidden under the bowknot of hair, but the long ears signifying royal birth are shown with restraint. The” third eye” or “urna” is carved in relief between the eyebrows. Each Bodhisattva was meant to represent a particular virtue of the Buddha however with the fragmentary evidence at hand it isn’t clear what this head represents. The most popular depictions were of Maitreya, the Buddha to come, protector of the faith, who is often seen as the regally attired companion to the more austere historical Buddha.
By the 5th century CE, Gandharan Buddhism and art were severely checked with the destructive invasions of outsiders and resultant economic decline. According to the writer, Hsuang-tsang, a Chinese pilgrim who traveled to the area in the 7th century CE, the monasteries were in disrepair and few monks remained. Another decisive factor of the decline of Buddhism in the area was the resurgence of Hinduism exerting pressure along the borders between India and what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan.
MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE
The sculpture is carved from gray schist, a metamorphic crystalline stone composed of thin sheets, which readily split apart. This material was used primarily between the 1st and 4th centuries CE. A hallmark of the Gandharan school were these standing schist images of mustachioed Bodhisattvas with classical Indian jewelry, but draped in garments resembling the roman toga, leaving one shoulder bare like a Buddhist monk. Most of the sculptures were flattened in the back in order to fit in niches in monasteries. The artists showed skill and ingenuity in incorporating Buddhist imagery into these forms.
SUMMARY
This is the earliest of the Buddhist sculptures on display and exemplifies the blend of the Greco-Roman aesthetic and Buddhist iconography. It is quite different from the head of Buddha from Thailand and the bodhisattva from Cambodia, also on display, reflecting the way Buddhist sculpture was influenced and changed by regional styles as the doctrine spread through out Asia.
Prepared for Docent council, SBMA by June Celmayster, 1994
Revised and prepared for Docent Web Site by Gay Collins, November, 2004
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Darlington, C.D. The Evolution of Man and Society. London:George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 1969
Gupte, Rames Shankar. The Iconography of Buddhist Sculptures. Caves of Ellore. Marathivada University. Aurangabad. India 1964
Herbert, Patricia M. The Life of the Buddha. San Francisco: Pomegranate Art books. 1992
Honour, Hugh and Fleming, John. The Visual Arts: A History. 3rd ed. New York. Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1991, p. 201
Inholt, Harold. Gandharan Art In Pakistan. Pantheon Books. New York. 1957
La Motte, Etienne. “The Buddha, His Teachings and His Sangha”: The World of Buddhism. ed. by Heinz and Richard Gambrish. New York. Thames and Hudson, Inc. 1991
Lee, Sherman E. A History of Far Eastern Art . Rev ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Prentice Hall, inc. New York: Harry Abrams, Inc. 1973
Rowland, Benjamin. The Art and Architecture of India: Buddhist.Hindu. Jain. Penguin Books, Baltimore Maryland. 1959, pp.69-103
Tucci, Guiseppe. “Buddha”. Encyclopedia of World Art. Vol. 11. New York. McGraw Hill, Inc. 1965 pp.
The Shambala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen , Shambala publications, Boston. 1991
The Teaching of the Compassionate Buddha, E.A. Burtt, ed. New York, Mentor Book, 1982
The World of Buddhism:Buddhist Monks and Nuns in Society andCulture. Texts by various contributors. Ed. Bechert, Heinz and Richard. Gombrich
SBMA CURATORIAL LABELS
Mustachioed, with a pensive facial expression, luxurious hairstyle and a crested hairband.
- Puja and Piety, 2016
The Apollo-like facial features and the luxuriant curly hair show the Greek and roman influence that arose through trade contact with ancient Gandhara, an area now divided between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The cranial bump, elongated earlobes, and the dot on the forehead are characteristic features of the Buddha and Bodhisattva. This head once joined a complete figure and would have been worshiped in a monastic shrine.
- SBMA Gallery Labels, 2012